Deck Building
"Deck Building" is the art of building a deck around a Buddyfighter's intentions, goals and dreams. This article will go into some steps, general tips and info to consider so that you too, can make a good deck. 'Step 1:' Choosing your Deck Before building your deck, consider where to build from. Some people construct their deck around a "Flag / World". Some choose an attribute. Some go for archetypes. Some build their deck around a single card options or a combo of cards. Look around for the thing that makes you go "Ohhh. I want to build that" and start from there. 'Step 2:' Winning Image The "Winning Image" is a general term for the strategy of your deck i.e. the path towards victory! There are several strategies you can take. It could be simply attacking your opponent every turn with everything you got. Maybe you want to outlast your opponent by gaining life every turn. Perhaps you want to deplete your opponent's hand or deck. The overall path your deck takes is for you to decide. Adding cards that make that easier are the best ones to add. Also remember to focus not just on dealing damage to your opponent, but also on protecting your own life. Without any defensive effects your opponent will quickly take down your life without you being able to do anything about it. Whether it's simple or complicated, whether it's fast or slow, keeping to the Image of your deck is an important factor to building your deck. 'Step 3:' Choosing a Buddy Picking your buddy can be a big decision. The card you pick as your Buddy is normally one of the most commonly played cards within your whole deck or perhaps the very card that represents the entire deck. On the other hand, your Buddy can also just be a throw-in for an easy Life gain from Buddy gift. Make sure to find the right Buddy for your deck. Also it's a good idea to run 4 of it in the deck for consistency. If you are still having difficulty, then it would be best to pick a monster that is easy to call. The lower the size the better and little to no cost/restrictions would be best. Having 4 of the monster in the deck would still be key, however. Basically, among the monsters you run 4 of, pick the one with the lower size and call cost. Overall, your Buddy should be a monster you want to call every game if possible. This can contribute your Winning image or just be a valuable monster. Also, a monster that is a buddy in the anime is usually a great buddy in this game. There are a few exceptions, but that is the general idea. 'Step 4:' Key Cards A card alone or by itself does not win the match. Even if your deck is themed around one card it will still need support from other cards to do anything. Your key cards are a group of cards that, once assembled, will allow you to go for the win. They are the focus of your Deck and the overall idea is to try to get them as fast as possible and keep yourself in the game long enough to use them. Staple cards are common and are generally run at 4 or 3. Staple cards imply that they should be run without exception, but of course you can add whatever you feel is best. You might think your buddy is a key card but it doesn't have to be. 'Step 5': Gaining Ground & Covering Weak Points As mentioned before, the overall idea should be getting your key cards as fast as possible and to keep yourself in the game. That's what the rest of cards should do. Cards that allow you to draw or search from your deck, cards that can stop the opponent's attacks, cards that prevent your other cards from being destroyed, cards that add gauge, big powerful monsters, cards that destroy the entire field etc. These are the kinds of cards you should be looking at. These cards are often staple and allow you to recover or gain advantage at key moments in a fight. Whether you want to out-speed your opponent at the cost of being easy to hit, or to fortify a large defense, or a balance in between, or something else entirely is up to you. Please note that you may not have access to everything here with the deck type you have chosen. Even then, it would be best not to have it all. 'Manage Your Gauge' Gauge is the main resource you're gonna use to pay the costs of your skills, but you only get to Charge 1 Gauge normally per turn so it's important to know how to spend it efficiently. If you spend your gauge too quickly you won't be able to pay the costs of your skills and will be left vulnerable. If you find that you spend too much gauge then redcue the amount of cards that consume Gauge in your deck and/or try including more cards that increase your gauge. Likewise, if you find yoursef with too much leftover gauge then maybe you're using too many cards that increase your gauge, and/or you can afford to include more cards that cost gauge. 'How to Protect Your Center' Decks generally can be divided in two categories depending on how you protect yourself from direct attacks: "Closed center" and "Open center". "Closed center" decks aim to always have a monster in the center position in order to prevent direct attacks. These type of decks typically run powerful monsters with exceptional Longevity. Monsters like this typically have Soulguard or various abilities that prevent it from leaving the field. Spells that protect those monsters to further prolong their longetivity or inhibit the opponents attack capabilites are instrumental in making these decks function. Size 0 monsters are another very important aspect of these decks which often allow extra attacks or ways to maximize your centers use. Item cards normally can't attack when the center is closed so good choices for items in "Closed center" decks include Items that can attack even when there's a monster in the center and items used for support instead of attacking. Decks focused on Size 3 monsters tend to be "Closed center" decks. "Open Center" decks on the other hand leave the center area open to mount a "Triple offensive" formation, which involves having a monster on the left and right and an item card. Some decks have options to have a "Quadruple Formation" to enable even more attacks, but have a way to keep the center open. These decks defend themselves from attacks with attack negators, damage reducers, Monsters with Move , etc. "Open center" decks tend to be more aggresive in exchange of being more vulnerable to direct attacks. Defensive spells that will protect the fighter are more important then spells that protect your monsters in this case. Items are another important aspect of these decks and should generally be run at 4-6. Deciding how you defend your center can be a key factor in what kind of deck you want to use. Do you like stalling and walling your opponent? Or maybe need having monsters on the field to use your combos? Then maybe you'd like a "Closed center" deck. Or do you prefer using items? Or maybe have many "When your center is open" effects? Then maybe you'd prefer an "Open center" deck. 'Sideboard' In tournaments, you usually have a Best-of-3-Matches Round. In between Matches, you can swap cards out of your Main Deck with ones in your Sideboard. Why? Generally, The Sideboard is made of situational cards that you store away until you do need them. This allows the player to have access to cards without having to add needlessly to their deck. Examples of good choices for your Sideboard include cards that only work against certain types of decks. 'Step 6:' Ratios (Card Types) Ratios refers to the number of a type of card you have in your deck and how much they make up the deck. Each one has their advantage and downfalls. Keeping a good balance between them is key to making a functioning deck. Too many monsters, you won't easily draw the spell that turns things around. Too many spells and you'll be defenceless with no monsters to protect you. Items are cool but you can only have 1 of them compared to 3 monsters. Impacts are awesome finishers, but how are you going to lower your opponent's life low enough to use it? Ultimately, ratios depend on the kind of deck you're building. For example: if your deck focuses on casting Spells every turn, then a higher spell count is expected, while a deck that tries to never leave the center open is unlikely to run many items. Also remember it's not mandatory for a deck to use all Card types, some decks can work without Items, others can work without Impacts, etc. Just be sure to keep track of your Ratios and find the best balance for your deck. 'Step 7:' Time to Buddyfight Now you got your deck. Think that's it? No. Now you have to put it to the test. Best way to test it? Have a Buddyfight!!! Find a friend who's willing to test your deck against theirs. Keep note of how many times you win or lose, and tweak your deck if it needs it. Don't have someone to fight against? Then build a second deck and fight against yourself! Now go out there, build your decks and, Buddyfight! Category:Rules